Hoofdstuk 2, sectie 7 & 8

The Netherlands is at mid latitudes as well as on the sea, the average temperature fluctuates between 2 ®C and 17 ®C. That’s why it’s called a moderate maritime climate. But if the wind changes direction, cold polar air or warm tropical air can reach our country.

Countries to the north of the Netherlands have a colder climate than countries to the south.

Cities on the same latitude don’t all have the same climate. You would think that, because the sun is in the same position an the same latitudes  and therefore they have the same amount of sun energy. But cities that aren’t close to the sea have a much lower winter temperature  and a much higher summer temperature. This is because of the sea. The sea warms up slowly and cools of slowly. Land warms up quickly and cools off quickly. This is also true for the air above the sea and above land. After all, the air is warmed up from underneath. The wind normally blows from the sea towards the land. This is called a sea breeze. This wind brings sea air to the land. This has a cooling effect in the summer and a warming effect in the winter. But if there is a land breeze then the influence of the sea disappears and it becomes warmer in the summer and colder in the winter.

Wind direction plays an important role. It has an large effect on the weather, as wind brings either warm or cold air, humid or dry air. Even though in the Netherlands the west wind is the most frequent, wind also comes from other directions.

Nowadays people often talk about climate change. But after one hot summer we can’t say that the climate is getting warmer. Probably the following year the summer will be much cooler again, or maybe the winter will be really cold. Weather is just changeable. In order to research whether the climate is changing you have to look at a long period of time. This is possible as everything about the weather has been recorded for more than a hundred years by the KNMI. But the records of the list with warmest and coldest summers since 1901 show that the climate is indeed changing. For the Netherlands this seems to mean that temperatures will go up op couple of degrees. It is also expected that there will be more and heavier rainfall, like tropical showers.

Even though the Netherlands isn’t very large there can be differences in weather and climate. While it’s raining in one area, it can be dry and sunny somewhere else. A couple of days later the situation can be reversed. But the average temperature in the north is lower than in the south. There are also climate differences in the amount of precipitation in the Netherlands. Most of the precipitation falls in the Veluwe and the south of Limburg. Even though the Netherlands is small, differences in latitude, the influence of the sea and differences in latitude appear to make a difference.

People complain about the weather in the Netherlands. But, for daily life, a moderate maritime climate is not all that bad. The temperature is usually not too high or too low and precipitation is spread throughout the year. This is good for agriculture and traffic. And maybe you’ve never stopped tot think about this; wind and rain mean that all kinds of dirt are blown and rinsed away. Occasionally there are periods with calm summer weather. Initially this seems great but car exhaust fumes then stay in the air and after a couple of days there's a smog, this can be very unhealthy. (Soms zijn er perioden met rustig zomerweer. Dat lijkt misschien leuk, maar van uitlaatgassen die dan in de lucht blijven hangen, kan er na een paar dagen rookmist ontstaan, dit kan erg ongezond zijn.) But as the wind is usually blowing in the Dutch climate this rarely happens. This is an advantage of the climate in the Netherlands.

Sometimes you hear the farmers complain of dry summers as well as late frost in April or flooding in September. This is the changeability of the weather, which is also part of our climate. This is a disadvantage of the climate in the Netherlands.